NASA plans manned Moon mission

by Ella Walston

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Since Apollo 17 in 1972, there have been no crewed lunar missions scheduled by NASA.

NASA recently announced that they are sending US citizens to the moon in 2025. Before that mission, Artemis 2 will launch as the first crewed mission in NASA’s Orion spacecraft. The crew will perform a lunar flyby before returning to Earth. Artemis 1 launched in November of 2022 and returned home after about a month.

Artemis 1 was an uncrewed orbit mission, meaning there were no astronauts on the spacecraft. It demonstrated Orion's systems in spaceflight to ensure that the crew members on Artemis 2 and Artemis 3 will stay safe during their time in space.

There will be 4 astronauts aboard Artemis 3. The crew assignments are Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist 1 Christina Hammock Koch, and Mission Specialist 2 Jeremy Hansen. The goal of this mission is to take humans further than we have ever gone in space. This mission will also land the first woman on the moon.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine says, “We are the Artemis generation – and we are going.”